Howland hopes to keep winning streak going

Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Ben Howland met with the media for his weekly press conference. Howland discussed his team’s recent two wins, their upcoming game against Texas A&M, Quinndary Weatherspoon winning SEC Co-Freshman of the Week and the health of Malik Newman.

On Quinndary Weatherspoon…

“He had another great week for us and like I said from the beginning I thought he was going to be a really good player. He’s earned it. He’s put the time in. He gets in there extra on his own at night, late at night in the practice gym, and gets up shots. He’s really become a good defender. I look at defense first, and he’s really improved in that area. And what I love is that he’s competitive, he takes it on as a challenge and he wants to stop that guy. He gets it and offensively he’s really grown as a player. He’s still got a lot of room, a lot of ceiling left to really take his game to new levels here in the future.”

On Weatherspoon’s versatility…

“He’s guarded one through four and he’s played offense one through four this year. Not many freshmen have that kind of capability and I think it says a lot about how smart he is and how skilled he is and how tough he is. He’s tough, that’s what I love most about him. I think if Dan Mullen saw the inside of Q, he’d want him out there for them.”

On Craig Sword’s performance Saturday…

“I thought Chicken was outstanding going back and watching the film. Chicken did an outstanding job on their point guard and really made him earn everything, and that guy’s a great player. He hit big shots, played really under control, made a big time drive late in the game against the zone that hit Gavin [Ware] for I think Gavin’s last basket.”

On going into Wednesday’s game against Texas A&M…

“We’ve won five of our last nine games and as I look at it that’s a real positive. We’re playing better here later in the year. I just wish we could have won a couple of those early games at Florida or the [Texas] A&M game at home, so hopefully we’ll play well.”

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I have covered Mississippi State in some capacity since 2004 and joined the Daily Journal staff in 2013. I enjoy short walks on the beach, performing concerts in my car and watching professional wrestling.